Dr.

R N Behera
 Overview
o Aerial Surveying

o Aerial Survey equipment

o Aerial Surveying procedure

o Stereoscopic vision

o Photo-interpretation
 AERIAL SURVEY
With the availability of aerial
platforms, aerial photography
replaced terrestrial
photography.
Aircrafts and balloons can be
used with camera fixed to the
bottom.
Photographs are taken at
planned intervals with
overlaps along and across the
flight path.
 TERMINOLOGY
Altitude Height of aircraft
above ground

Flying height Height of

aircraft above datum

Exposure station Position of

aircraft at the time of camera
exposure

Airbase distance between two

exposure stations.
 Tilt and Tip Tilt is the inclination of
camera axis about the line of flight and Tip
is about axis perpendicular to it.

Picture plane is the plane of image at the

time of exposure.

Ground plane is the surface which is the

datum.
 Perspective centre optical centre of the camera

Principal point is the intersection of optical axis

with the picture plane.

Isocentre point on photograph at which the

bisector of angle of tilt meets the photographic
plane.

Plumb point the point at which a vertical line

through the optical centre meets the photographic
and ground surfaces.
 Homologous points
points on the ground and
their representation on
the photograph.
Photograph can be tilted,
vertical or oblique
Collimating marks
appear on all
photographs, so that the
optical axis (also called
the principal point) is
known by joining them on
the photograph
 AERIAL SURVEY EQUIPMENT
Aircraft fitted with cameras
are used for aerial surveys.

Aerial cameras work on the

same principle as normal
cameras.

Aerial cameras have many

special features like a
complex lens system and
many types of filters and
associated gadgetry for
camera fitting and
automatic filming.
 AERIAL CAMERA

Aperture opening of shutter at the

time of exposure, which can be
adjusted, also called f-stop (f/8,
f/11).

Shutter speed Time the shutter

remains open to allow the light to
fall on the film. This can vary from
1/2000 to 1 or more seconds.
Film speed Amount of radiation required for film response.
It is indicated by number as 100, 200, 400 etc. Larger the
number, larger is the speed and requires less aperture and
small shutter speeds for a given operation

Focus operation of getting image of object on the picture

plane/film.
 TYPES OF AERIAL CAMERA
Metric camera
Lens assembly is a
complex system of lenses.
Diaphragm is the opening
at the centre of a plate for
exposing the film.
Shutter is a movable plate
that helps to give a specific
time of exposure of the
film to light.
 Exposure area From lens assembly, the camera
widens to the film size. When focused, the focal
length of camera ends on the film plane.

Film is a flexible material with light sensitive

coating and is kept mechanically pressed to be a
perfect plane.

Reel Two reels are provided, one with

unexposed film and the other reel to take up the
exposed film.
 Multi-spectral camera
Use a multi-lens
assembly to have
exposure to multiple
bands of the radiation
spectrum.

RC30 Leica-Heerbrugg aerial camera

Act like multiple cameras with individual lens
assemblies and filter combinations to record
images from different bands of the radiation
spectrum.

Cameras have associated instrument panel to record

altitude, time of exposure etc.
Zeiss RMK camera system and mounting
Camera is fixed to the bottom
of the aircraft

Modern cameras use many

advanced systems like
GPS, controllers to
calculate time interval and
overlaps and navigation
sight which gives the
operator a view of the
ground ahead and also
compensates for crab
which is movement of the
flight during exposure
 AERIAL SURVEY PROCEDURE
Reconnaissance
Establishing ground controls
Flight planning
Photography
Computation and plotting
 GROUND CONTROLS
Ground control refers to location of points by
triangulation which are seen in photographs. These
points help to locate other points and objects

The no. of ground control point depends on:

Extent of area covered
Scale of map
Flight plan
Process of preparing the maps

Minimum three control points must appear in each

photograph.
 FLIGHT PLANNING
Flight plan is prepared for
flight control.
Flight plan depends upon
factors like area to be
covered, camera and its
focal length, scale, altitude,
speed and overlaps.
Time interval between
exposures, number of
photographs and area
covered by each decided
based on this.
 OVERLAPS
Overlaps are required to
ensure complete
coverage of the area
The photographs are
taken with overlaps.
Overlaps are both in the
direction of flight and
laterally.
Longitudinal overlap is
about 60 % while
lateral overlap is about
30%.
OVERLAPS
 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Aerial photographs can
be vertical or tilted or
oblique.
The scale of the
photographs change
according to the nature.
Number of photographs
required can be
calculated from the size
of photo and
corresponding ground
area.
 Scale of Vertical Photographs
ab f
S
AB H h
ab f
S
AB H hav
ha hb
hav
2
if X , Y are ground coordinates
and x, y are the photographic coordinates
x f y f
and
X H h Y H h
Length PQ X p X q Y p Yq
2 2
 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Scale of tilted
photographs can be
determined.
However, such
procedure is rarely
used. The photographs O

first corrected for tilt O

and then scale of M

vertical photograph is
used.
 Scale of Tilted Photographs
Scale at the Isocentre
OI '
f sec / 2 f
I
'

OI h sec / 2 h

ON '
f sec
Scale at N
'
O
ON h O

M
'
OP f
Scale at P
'

OP h sec
 Number of Photographs
Let Lp and Wp be the length and width of a
photograph and Lg and Wg be the corresponding
ground area.
S is the scale of photograph
Let the longitudinal overlap is represented by Ol
and lateral overlap is represented by Os
Effective ground length covered by one photograph
Lg = SLp(1-Ol)
Effective ground width covered by one photograph
Wg = SWp(1-Os)
If L and W are the length and width of the area to be
covered
 Number of Photographs
Number of photographs/strip, NL = L/Lg +1
1 is added to cover the end areas

Number of strips, NS = W/Wg +1

Number of photographs, N=NLNS

Also, N=LW/LgWg
 Interval between Exposures
Time Interval T (sec) = 3600L/V

Where L is the distance travelled by aircraft (in kilometres or metres)

V is the speed of the aircraft (in km/hr or m/hr)
 DISTORTIONS
Distortions due to tilt

bb"
ib 2 sin
f ib sin
 DISTORTIONS
Displacement due to ground relief: refers to
the displacement of points on the vertical
line w.r.t each other

Pa
ab h
H h
Q. Aerial photographs were taken with a camera
having a focal length of 180 mm. The average
elevation of the ground in the photograph was 160 m.
find (a) the scale of map if the flying height was 2500
m and (b) the flying height required to have a photo
scale of 1 in 6000.

Q. Find the number of photographs (size 250 x 250

mm) required to cover an area of 20 km x 16 km if the
longitudinal overlap is 60% and lateral overlap is
30%. Scale of the photograph is 1 cm= 150 m.
Q. The height of a chimney is 110 m. In a vertical
photograph taken from an altitude of 2800 m, the
chimney appears at a base of 70 mm from the
principal point. Determine the displacement of the
top of the chimney from the bottom if the elevation of
the base is 1200 m.
 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Aerial photographs are mainly used as stereo
pairs with which a view of topography can be
obtained. A stereoscope is used for viewing
such stereo pairs.

Another way to use photographs is to make a

mosaic. This is done by cutting and trimming
the photographs to get view of the whole area
in one photo.
The photograph that results after the tilt and
ground relief corrections have been made is known
as controlled mosaic
 PHOTOS AND MAPS
Photos Maps
Two-dimensional view at Made from data collected
an instant of time earlier
Do not have uniform scale Maps have uniform scale
Perspective projection Map is orthogonal
Shows all that the lens projection
sees Maps show only required
Less clarity due to too features
many details Maps are more clear
Shows details as seen by Details using symbols
the camera Shows details at a fixed
Photographs can show point in time
changes in landscape with
photos take over period of
time.
 STEREOSCOPIC VISION
Human eyes makes
images through the
two eyes but at slightly
different angles.
The eye fuses them to
give depth to the
vision.
At large distances
(about 600m), this
depth is no longer
available.
 STEREOSCOPIC PAIRS
For stereoscopic vision
from plane
photographs, giving
depth to the view, it is
necessary to have
stereoscopic pairs.
Such photographs
have overlapping
common areas.
 STEREOSCOPES
Mirror stereoscope
Lens stereoscope
Scanning mirror
Zoom stereoscope
STEREOSCOPES
 PARALLAX
Parallax is due to the movement
of point of observation and the
difference in height between
points observed.

The apparent movement of the

point under observation w.r.t.
the reference system caused by
the movement of camera
position is known as parallax

Parallax can be determined from

photographs.
 PARALLAX EQUATION
Find the difference in elevation between points from the parallax in two
photographs.

hb ha PH 2 / Df
 MEASURING PARALLAX
Parallax bar
 PHOTO INTERPRETATION
is the process of locating and identifying accurate objects
from photographs.

Colour photos are easier due to tonal variation.

A stereoscopic pair seen through a stereoscope is easier to

interpret due to the depth in the view.
 PHOTOINTERPRETATION
Features:
Size, Shape, texture, pattern, shadow, tone and location are
features helping to identify.

Using large scale photos and a knowledge about the feature

seen in the correct conditions help to identify objects in
photos.